Swimmer Jim Dreyer keeps sights on crossing Lake Michigan despite setbacks

Long distance swimmer Jim Dreyer contends with more than just frigid temperatures, heavy waves and navigational difficulties on his long distance swims across the Great Lakes. In many ways, his biggest challenge is his  hallucinations. 

“As you get into that second night, at least for me, there’s always some level of hallucinations that set in,” Dreyer recently told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.” “When you get into the third night — if there is going to be a third night — the hallucinations get really, really bad.”

In 1998, Dreyer swam across Lake Michigan. Between 1998 and 2005, he swam across all five of the Great Lakes. He has learned to anticipate that his mind will play tricks on him. 

“This is going to sound strange, but I actually train for swimming through hallucinations. When I’m doing my peak training, I always make sure I swim at least two days and two nights, because I know that on the second night, the hallucinations are going to set in,” he said. “And I train on a familiar course. That way, I can interject logic against what my eyes are seeing and weigh the two, because your eyes are going to see some crazy stuff. But being familiar with the course, I can interject logic and say, ‘No, Jim, this is not real. It’s OK to swim through that large pier that you see right in front of you, because it’s not there.’”

More than 25 years after his first swim across Lake Michigan, Dreyer has been trying to do it again, but adding on a symbolic 25 miles. 

Since August 2023, he’s made four attempts to cross what he calls “an inland sea.” Each attempt has ended in failure, either due to changes in wind conditions or technical problems. 

His most recent attempt ending on Sept. 4 was foiled by problems with his GPS, according to a release from Dreyer after the swim. Dreyer described the first 24 hours of his latest attempt — a 40-hour solo swim — as a “navigational nightmare.”

Dreyer said long distance swims across the Great Lakes are always unpredictable. 

“The thing that people don’t necessarily understand is how the conditions can change out there so quickly,” he said. “When I say conditions, I mean waves, water temperatures and what the weather is like just a mile away. It can be completely different. These lakes make their own weather.”

Despite the danger and unpredictability, he said many people are capable of completing open water endurance swims.

“Just like any goal, you have to take it in bite-sized pieces. You have to walk before you can run,” he said. “But I think it is a doable thing. I’ve certainly proven that.” 

Training is essential. One training technique Dreyer employs is to pull 20-gallon buckets underwater while putting large paddles on his hands and forearms, while doing sprints.

“It is incredible strength training that’s very swimming-specific,” he said.

Swimming in pools is useful, Dreyer said, “but eventually, you have to get out in the open water where there’s no lane lines, where you’re affected by the waves and you’re affected by the weather and the water temperatures. And you have to put in a lot of time out there, because the open water is a completely different animal than the pool.”